Two Ships In The Sea
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day one thousand and fifty-eight: Walking back through the halls of McKinley together, Finn and Elsie share memories, of one and the other. - Familiar Strangers series


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 50th cycle. Now cycle 51!_

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**"Two Ships In The Sea"  
(Older) Finn/Elsie (OC-ish)  
Familiar Strangers series  
_(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)_  
**

If they should go back and walk those halls again, this was about the best reason for them to do it. They weren't catching up with the old math class, or the lunch ladies. Their old Glee Club director had come upon them a few days earlier, and he'd extended this offer/request, for them to come by the choir room and talk to the current batch of students sitting in those chairs. It had required little to no thought: of course they would go, especially since, in a way, it had led to them getting together now.

They passed the building all the time, and it still did something to them. Actually going in, they felt real chills, whether they would say it out loud or not.

"I wasn't really in Glee Club all that long," Elsie pointed out.

"But you were there, that's what's important," he told her, and she smiled.

"Well what about you, I mean you were right in the thick of it, all this time," she watched him look around with a quiet smile.

He just remembered the last time he had left this place, left the choir room, with the knowledge that if and when he would return it would not be as someone who was still part of this world. He remembered being so scared of what would come, all these things he didn't know. It hadn't all gone quite as he had imagined, but in the end he had found his footing, his place, and he wouldn't trade the life he had. He had grown so much as a person, he felt, from that boy he had been. Walking through the halls he could just feel it.

Elsie was not stepping in or interrupting this moment of reflection, because she was having one of her own. She'd known that being back here would make her think of Alex, she just had no idea how strongly it would hit her, as soon as they'd walked in. Looking around, she'd just see… the place where he had asked her out the first time, his old locker, her old locker – right across from one another. They'd sneak glances at one another and, if they caught each other looking, they'd smirk… He had been good for her. She may have been a Cheerio, and he may have been going around with his buddies from the football team, but when they were together, they were just LC and Alex.

Finn knew being here would bring this back to her, and before long he had reached for her hand and brought her back. She looked to him, smiling. "I remember you from here, you know? You might not have remembered me, but…" she teased.

"You tricked me…" he defended himself.

"Sure…" Elsie went along with it.

"Fine, what do you remember?" he asked.

"Well, I remember cheering for you at football games, basketball games… Maybe just because it was expected, but… details," she smirked, and he laughed. "I remember you in Glee competitions… Tell you, if there was a place to really cheer for you, that'd be it."

"Anything else?" he asked.

"Let's just say… not all of it was…"

"Yeah, I know," he winced, thinking back to moments he wasn't exactly proud of.

"But that's not all of you, and it's in the past, I mean I have things I'm not too proud of either. 'Youthful indiscretions,' let's say," she bowed her head. "But I remember a lot of good things, too. Alex talked about you, you know? He really respected you for what you'd do for the team," she revealed.

"I don't know what to say…" he spoke after a beat.

"Well… I told you about what I remembered about you. Now, I know you don't really remember me…"

"No, but I do," he assured her. "Maybe I had trouble figuring it out at first, but I do remember more now," he promised.

"Like what?" she smiled.

"Like… seeing you with Alex, obviously, and with Mags and the rest of the Troubletones. I never understood why you didn't stick around when the others came back to New Directions…"

"Yeah, like the coach would let us," she chuckled.

"Oh… right," he nodded. "I think it's harder to remember, I mean all the Cheerios in those uniforms every day, same ponytail and all… unless we really spent time together. It was hard to tell what you were really like."

"Yeah, probably," she agreed.

"But you know how we said we never really talked?" he asked and she nodded. "Well, there was one time. You don't remember, do you?" he asked with a sort of victorious grin.

"Alright," she smirked. "Maybe not, you got me. So what was it?" she asked.

"Senior year, bus ride to Nationals in Chicago," he set the scene, and after a moment, it hit her and she gasped, laughing.

X

They may not have been willing to say as much, but they'd been happy to return for this, more than just for the trip to Chicago. LC had spent the better part of the journey with headphones on, listening to the music and running through choreography in her head. It distracted her from the rolling motion, which would make her nauseous after a while if she paid any mind to it.

She must not have calculated things too well, because at one point the music had stopped – the battery was out. "Damn…" she muttered, still trying to get it to work.

"What's wrong?" she looked up, finding Finn looking at her from the row ahead.

"My battery's dead," she explained.

"Oh… Well, here," he held out his iPod. "I have all our songs on, so just…" She smiled, relieved.

"Thanks," she took it. "Do you mind if I just switch…" she held up the headphones.

"Sure, go for it," he told her, so she did. "Aren't you going to get sick of hearing the same thing over and over?"

"I won't," she promised. "Even then, I'd prefer getting sick of a song than… well, getting sick." He gave a confused nod. "Thank you…" she told him again.

"You're welcome."

X

She gave his hand a squeeze as they continued down the hall. "Saved me a heap of trouble," she recalled.

"Did you really not get tired of it?"

"I can't hear Edge of Glory without feeling myself do the moves," she laughed. "At least I didn't get motion sickness."

They neared the choir room, and they could hear singing come from inside… Chills returned. They may not have been on the same team, not both there for that long, but going in they knew they were reuniting with the past, together.

THE END

A/N: This is (very likely) the final installment in this series.

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******A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.  
****In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are  
************always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!**


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